Combustion-motor



H. c. A. POTEZ.

COMBUSTION MOTOR.

APPLICATION FILED 050. I3. I919.

I 1,390,925, PatentedSept. 13,1921.

i waes-sesi 067a the drawing.

bined direct action of such PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY CHARLES ALEXANDRE POTEZ, OF AUBERVILLIEBS,"FRANGE.

COMBUSTIONJIOTOB.

\ Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 13, 1921.

Application filed December 13, 1919. Serial No. 344,528.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY CHARLEs ALEXANDRE Po'rnz, citizen of the French Republic, residing at- Aubervilliers, Department of Seine,France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Com-- bustion-Motors, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionmelates to improvements in the adaptation of internal combustion motors for facilitating their cooling, and'more particularly (but not exclusively) to the arrangement of internal combustion engines for this purpose upon airships, aeroplanes and the like. v

Its object is to cool the motor in an efficient manner and render more practical, especially for aviation purposes, certain types of engines.

Thelinvention consists, chiefly, in such an arrangement of the cylinders of a motor that the crankshaft may bearranged vertically and actuate a vertically disposed air propeller placed above the motor so that a direct stream of air resulting from the comthe air propeller and the rapid forward motion. of the vehicle may strike first of all the heads or in other words that portion of the cylinders containing the combustion-chambers.

Iin addition to this main feature, the in vention comprises other arrangements such as uniting the crank-case of the motorv with the housing of the transmission, transmitting motion from the vertical motor crank-shaft to the vertical air propeller through gearing located in said housing, the utilizing of the strength of the vertically disposed crank case, arranged at the front of the automotive vehicle so as to armor'it s forepart and additionalarrangements hereinafter more fully referred to. p

The accompanying drawing gives an example of a devicerfor carrying the invention into effect, and willbe clearly under-.

stood from the following specification which describes the invention with reference to The figure of said drawing shows somewhat diagrammatically a portion of the bodyof an aeroplane and a central vertical section, partially in elevation, of the forepart of the frame of an aeroplane including the motor.

' The figure shows the case of an aeroplane, comprising a body a,

a landing frame 6, a

. them,

motor mounted on the forepart of the body by means of its crank case 0 and having such a number of cylinders c as is desirable, for instance four as shown in the figure. The means for elevating and steering the aeroplane are not shown as they have no bearing upon this invention. The cylinders are disposed one above the other and preferably with some space between and moreover the cylinders are preferably disposed in a vertical middle plane of the engine, so that the crankshaft 0 occupies a vertical position. 'The openings in the crank case '0, which receive the cylinders, are turned toward the forepart of the body of the automotive engine and the cylinders are fixed on the crankcase by any suitable means.

The shaft d of the propeller (Z is journaled horizontally and placed so that its axis is in the central vertical plane of the cylinders 0 and its position is above the uppermost cylinder. The crankshaft c and the propeller shaft dare connected by suitable means, for instance by means of the beveled pinion c and the bevel gear d The-propeller shaft has its bearings preferably in a housing a? integral with, or rig idly fastened to, the crank case 0. I 0f course; the cylinders 0 may be arranged in several vertical parallel rows containing any number of cylinders and the means connecting the crankshaft (or crankshafts to the propeller shaft (or propeller shafts .could be modified accordingly. 1

If the motor is provided with water cooled cylinder heads the other" parts of the 'compoundtcooling system isiobtained, in

which the cooling action of the .water is aided by that of the airstream which im-J pinges directly on the cylinder heads. The watercooled'heads and the portions of the cylinders surrounding the valves may also be provided with ribs in this compound-eye.

tem. On the other hand, with the present invention the air-cooling will be; suflicient unless the cylinders are unusually; large as.

the airstream' due" to the forward motion of the engine and the rotation of the pro peller blades will strike the whole surface of the ribs and penetrate. thorou hly into the'intermediate spaces thereof an spaces between the cylinders.

into the The ribs on the cylinders may advantageously be arran ed on sockets fitted to the said cylinders, t ese sockets being made of a metal of a good thermal conductivity, such as aluminium-such sockets being split and their two halves adapted to the body of the cylinders. This construction renders the machining operation much easier and realizes at the same time an efficient cooling, owin to the good thermal conduction of aluminium.

The described arrangements offer many advantages some of which may be enumerated as follows:

The armoring of the front part or bow of the aeroplane by means of the strength of the combined crankcase and transmission casing;

The strong fixation of'the arm I) of the landing car, said arm being fastened directly to the'lower part of the motor crank case; I

' The utilization of a motor turning at a great angular speed, owing to the fact that a reduction gear is provided with the system, which facilitates the use of a relatively slowly rotating propeller of great efiiciency;

The journaling of the propeller shaft of the screw at a high level so that the body of the aeroplane may be lowered, thereby lowering the center of gravity of the body and lessening the importance of the landing frame.

An arrangement as described can be utilized,--in a more'or less analogous way,-not only on any kind of aeroplane, hydroplane, motor-driven air-ship or any other automotive vehicle advancing with a certain speed but also on stationary motors which use large fans for creating theair stream. In such a case the motor will be placed in the undeflected air stream produced by the fan in such a way that the air willbe directed by the fan directly on the heads of the cylinders.

The invention is not limited to the described forms but comprises any modifications which come within the scope of the appended claims. Of course, motors having the planes'of the rows of cylinders not par-' allel but forming an angle as in the case of motors of the V-type are included in the scope of this invention; The open side of the V should then be turned to the front of the automotive engine so that the cylinder heads will receive the combined natural and artificial air stream, as above described. In suchcases the ribs are arranged in an oblique way parallel to the axes of the cylinders or these may be replaced by pins or the 'I claim: l 1. In an automotive vehicle, the combination of a body, an internal combustion engine mounted in the forward portion of said body, said engine including superposed cylinders having cylinder heads disposed toward the,front of the vehicle, a vertically arranged crank case at the rear of said cylinders having a crank shaft mounted vertically therein, and a pro Jeller adjacent said cylinder heads whereby tie forward motion of the body and the rotation of said propeller cause a stream of air to impinge directly and initially upon said cylinder heads.

2. In an automotive vehicle, the combination of a body, an internal combustion engine mounted in the forward portion of said body, said engine including superposed and horizontally arranged cylinders having cylinder heads disposed toward the front of the vehicle, a vertical crank shaft, and pistons connected to said crank shaft adapted to reciprocate in said c linders, a propeller located adjacent sai cylinder heads, a propeller shaft arranged above said cylinders and means operatively connecting said crank and propeller shafts, whereby the forward motion of .the body and the rotation of said propeller cause a stream of air to impinge directly and initially upon said cylinder heads.

3. In an automotive vehicle, the combination of a body, an internal combustion engine mounted in the forward portion of said body including superposed cylinders, a vertically arranged crank case and a crank shaft mounted vertically in said crank case, a propeller adjacent said cylinders, a pro peller shaft located above said cylinders, gearing connecting said shafts and a casing secured to said crank case for housing said gearing and providing bearings for said propeller shaft.

4. In an automotive vehicle, the combination of a body, an internal combustion enine having a crank case vertically arranged in the forward portion of said body, said crank case having an extension, a crank shaft mounted vertically in said crank case, a propeller located adjacent said engine and a propeller shaftmounted above the engine and in said extension, whereby the center of gravity of the vehicle may be relatively low and said crank case and extension are adapted to sup ort armor for the forward part of the vehi'c e.

5. In an aeroplane, the combination of a body, an engine mounted in the forward portion of the body having a vertically arranged crank case and a landing frame having supporting arms secured to said crank case. i

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

HENRY CHARLES ALEXAHDRE POTEZ. 

